VOTE SCAM - NICOP HOLDERS BEWARE

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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During my recent visit to Pakistan, I checked my voting status by sending sms with CNIC number to 8300. Surprised after receiving the response, not only i was registered as voter which i never did myself! it was registered at colony ( i think it doesnt exist in Lahore or atleast i havent heard about it) I have never lived in my life. So looks like some extra smart A$$ political party registered my vote already when i have never applied for it. My parents votes were not registered as they dont have NICOP and havent applied for registration at the time . So what i gathered from this, they have targeted NICOP holders as they will not be aware or least likely to vote in Pakistan. I have sorted out and correct the registration!

DO check yours through family and friend in Pakistan. A simple text to 8300 with id card number will reveal the truth!

traditional political parties doing what they do best rigging preparation at its best!

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Re: VOTE SCAM - NICOP HOLDERS BEWARE

^^^ Are you sure that there is no misunderstanding. From what I know, all NI card holders (or probably NICOP) automatically get registered as voters from constituency of their permanent residency. Normally, people from election commission would come to that address and confirm that you are still living at your permanent address or not, but that in most cases is formality.

Only problem in what you are saying is that, you were registered at address where you never lived or know (that means, it is not address mentioned in your NICOP card). That seems something funny, as, you would have your permanent address in Pakistan mentioned on your NICOP and election commission should register you at that address, and not at any other address (as far as I know … though I could be wrong).

On the other hand, what I believe, when you will go for vote, you will have to take your NI or NICOP with you, so it is very unlikely that anyone else would be able to vote as you or on your behalf, as the person would not have your NICOP card.

[Note: Those who have POC … or Pakistan origin card, they could not vote as they are not Pakistanis but they only have their origin in Pakistan]

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Re: VOTE SCAM - NICOP HOLDERS BEWARE

^^ in my whole life I have changed my address once when we moved house. No they are not automatically registered, they only get registered at the time of census or registration by the voter later if they have moved.
No vote registered to a very vague address without any house number or street or block and my real ID card do have all the details. I also couldnt find the fake registered address "water management colony, Thokar Niaz Baig, lahore" I think it doesnt exist, if you find this for real let me know!

plus when you rig the elections normally the whole lot is included and id card is only a formality organised rigging dont need the real person or its id.

I hope its all some kind of malfunction and not something sinister, but there is no harm in checking!

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Re: VOTE SCAM - NICOP HOLDERS BEWARE

I agree with you that one should keep check to what is happening with his vote and that he is correctly registered in electoral list or not. Nevertheless:

I do not think you are right about vote registration in voter electoral list only due personal registration and verification, as what I know, votes do automatically get registered at address you have on your ID card (in Pakistan). Election commission later verify that the person is still living at the address or not (as the person could have died or moved the house without changing permanent address on ID). These voters in electoral list are recorded as verified voters. Verification is mostly a formality and in Pakistan most of the time verification is not even done properly, but then, all voters do not get verified anyhow.

In 2008 and previous elections, rigging in voting was possible as ID cards were not computerised, so many parties had fake ID cards with them in millions and got names on those ID cards registered as voters.

Present computerised ID cards do not only have all personal details, but NADRA has details of almost every person one is related with, almost all addresses one ever lived, tax and bank account details, even detail of mobile phone numbers person have, and much more.

In 2008, there were over 80 million registered voters and only half had computerised ID cards. Musharraf government thought of not-allowing voters having non computerised ID card to vote, but political parties started protesting that since many of their voters do not have computerised ID card, they would be left out from voting and there are too many voters without computerised ID card that they can make Computerised ID card within time.

Under pressure, Musharraf government allowed voters who had no computerised ID cards to vote. Nevertheless, there was possibility of fake votes due to voters having non-computerised ID cards, total votes cast were less than 35 million (less than 45 percent turnout). Turnout in almost all constituencies all over Pakistan were less than 50 percent, even in cities (including Karachi and Lahore) where it is expected that most people would vote. That shows vote rigging may have happened (accepting possibility) but not in any big way.

In 2013 election, due to requirement of voters having computerised ID card, there registration are according to computerised ID card, and later most would get verified by election commission, thus there is very little chance if any of fake votes (though chances of forced votes, bradari votes, dependency votes, and forced abstention from voting, would always going to be there, especially in rural areas).

Anyhow, here are details of voter list (2007 and well as 2011): In table you can see that total number of voters consist of two elements. One is verified voters and other is NADRA augmented voters.

Election Commission of Pakistan- Voter Stats

Comparison between FER-2007 and DER-2011 Electoral Rolls

[TABLE]

FER-07 Voter of Pakistan
81,213,620

FER-07 Verified Voter of Pakistan
44,027,567

FER-07 Un-Verified Voter of Pakistan
37,186,053

Draft Electoral Rolls (DER-2011) Voters of Pakistan
80,724,009

NADRA Augmented Voters in DER-2011
36,696,442

Electoral Roll = 80,724009 voters
That consists of:
FER verified = 44,027567 voters
Plus
NADRA augmented = 36,696442 voter

Note: From what I understand, above figures shows that voters according to NADRA in 2011 are 80,724009 … but those who got verified were 44,027567 (as in 2007) and rest were not verified. Anyhow, verified figure got augmented (increased) by rest of voters according to NADRA record, and thus are there in electoral role (total voters).

Above figures also gives detail of total voters (81,213519 voters) in 2007, and that includes verified voters (44,027567 voters) and un-verified voters (37,186053 voters).